Thai SEC files criminal complaint against Binance

[Leviathan.007]

The Thai Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) announced on Friday that it has filed a criminal complaint against the exchange for its unlicensed and unregistered Binance activities in the country.
According to the organization, Binance exchanges cryptocurrencies through its website without permission. In addition, it has encouraged Thais to use the exchange's services through the Binance Thai Community website or Facebook page; Therefore, it can be prosecuted.
The watchdog said in a statement on April 5 that it had warned Binance and requested a written response, but that the exchange had not responded to the letter within the specified time.
Binance and its affiliates have received warnings from regulators in several countries, including the United States, Britain, Japan, the Cayman Islands and Singapore. But Thailand's recent move seems to be one of the most important to date against Binance, as it is not just a warning but a criminal complaint against the exchange.
According to the lawsuit, the Thai Stock Exchange Commission claims that Binance Exchange has violated Thai cryptocurrency rules defined by the emergency order of digital asset-related businesses. Under the law, managers of the exchange may face penalties of up to two to five years in prison and a fine of 200,000 to 500,000 baht (about $ 6,000 to $ 15,500) and a fine of more than 10,000 baht ($ 310) for each day of operation. Receive their illegal.


Source: https://www.theblockcrypto.com/post/110380/thailand-sec-binance-crypto-exchange-criminal-complaint

[Obito]

It seems to me that Binance is under fire and I don't think that it's going to be any good for any cryptocurrencies listed on the platform because people will try their best to evacuate out of the platform because they don't know what's going to be happening to this lawsuits against Binance and the likeliness of shutting down is high.

[buwaytress]

It seems to me that Binance is under fire and I don't think that it's going to be any good for any cryptocurrencies listed on the platform because people will try their best to evacuate out of the platform because they don't know what's going to be happening to this lawsuits against Binance and the likeliness of shutting down is high.

They'll probably find ways to weather this out, and even in worst-case scenario, those listed coins should have nothing to worry about.

If Binance has to stop operating in all these countries, then they'll just usher everyone onto their BSC platforms and get everyone to go trade on Pancakeswap or whatever. I don't know, maybe that's what they wanted to do all along with BNB and BSC.

Shutting down? Nah, it's a long time away. They'll find somewhere, or pay enough fines.

[Tytanowy Janusz]

It seems to me that Binance is under fire and I don't think that it's going to be any good for any cryptocurrencies listed on the platform because people will try their best to evacuate out of the platform because they don't know what's going to be happening to this lawsuits against Binance and the likeliness of shutting down is high.

XD XD

"likeliness of shutting down is high." YEA. Who will shut down binance? Ronald McDonald? Bitmex CEO was arrested in US for running Bitmex ... Bitmex is still not closed...

They have the most capital in the whole crypto, the best lawyers, the best workers that are responsible regulations:

Cryptocurrency Giant Binance.US Hires Former Top Bank Regulator
Binance Hires Former US Senator Max Baucus

Thats multi billion $ business. No one is going to shut them down.

@OP Who cares about Thai SEC? For sure not binance investors - no one is dumping on this FUD

[Obito]

~snip

They'll probably find ways to weather this out, and even in worst-case scenario, those listed coins should have nothing to worry about.

If Binance has to stop operating in all these countries, then they'll just usher everyone onto their BSC platforms and get everyone to go trade on Pancakeswap or whatever. I don't know, maybe that's what they wanted to do all along with BNB and BSC.

Shutting down? Nah, it's a long time away. They'll find somewhere, or pay enough fines.

Yeah, I do hope so because I have a lot of stakes in Binance and that's the last thing that I want but I am trying to put all the possibilities out there and I am glad that I am wrong about it.

[mk4]

Shutting down? Nah, it's a long time away. They'll find somewhere, or pay enough fines.

This. It's going to be a bit unlikely for them to close. I mean, they have all the money in the world to pay for the best lawyers. With that said, definitely still not impossible though. Binance have always liked to position themselves in the sort of gray area in terms of regulations, to get as much users as possible.

[rhomelmabini]

The timing was somehow perfect though in regards to Binance celebrating its 4 years in the industry. The letter may have been sent this April but I guess they got a limited time for that, Binance will not get into debate, they'll solve it instead. If fine was doable I guess they'll do that but I think it will be confidential on what will be Binance's instance regarding this.

[zanezane]

The timing was somehow perfect though in regards to Binance celebrating its 4 years in the industry. The letter may have been sent this April but I guess they got a limited time for that, Binance will not get into debate, they'll solve it instead. If fine was doable I guess they'll do that but I think it will be confidential on what will be Binance's instance regarding this.

Of course they will do it discreetly, I don't think that it's anyone's business how much they pay in fines with this lawsuit. This Thai is much bigger problem though because it's a criminal complaint rather than a lawsuit. Hopefully, all this thing that Binance is experiencing is just a temporary thing.

[john_nautica]

The timing was somehow perfect though in regards to Binance celebrating its 4 years in the industry. The letter may have been sent this April but I guess they got a limited time for that, Binance will not get into debate, they'll solve it instead. If fine was doable I guess they'll do that but I think it will be confidential on what will be Binance's instance regarding this.

Of course they will do it discreetly, I don't think that it's anyone's business how much they pay in fines with this lawsuit. This Thai is much bigger problem though because it's a criminal complaint rather than a lawsuit. Hopefully, all this thing that Binance is experiencing is just a temporary thing.

Yes, indeed. I also think that Binance would not choose to be closed and be guilty of such complaint but will make amends in such ways that they can do so. They have more than enough capacity to pay fines if such will be lifted and to hire a team of people, like lawyers, to get them out of a bad situation. But of course, would still do with limited eyes and ears that can witness the processes.

[bittraffic]

Even if they really find fault in Binance Thai, it won't be shut down.  Obviously, binance had to allow users to pay Thai Baht like how they do operate in every country and they have p2p for local currency. It's not specified how they do it on facebook but I don't think binance has some page where they could ask for Baht in exchange for cryptocurrency without going thru banks or an app. This is going to be just a small hiccup as Fud after all everything is negotiable these days.

[Maidak]

Is Binance then continuing its illegal activities in every country of the world? this SEC is just nothing but a bullshit. Thai govt. want to do their regulatory activity in everywhere.
Thailand is very enthusiastic about this SEC and in various ways they are promoting it widly. But Binance is not responding to this, they are continuing their normal activities, Binance just ignoring to answer anything about the SEC.

[eaLiTy]

They'll probably find ways to weather this out, and even in worst-case scenario, those listed coins should have nothing to worry about.

If Binance has to stop operating in all these countries, then they'll just usher everyone onto their BSC platforms and get everyone to go trade on Pancakeswap or whatever. I don't know, maybe that's what they wanted to do all along with BNB and BSC.

They have a P2P market as well and if they are not willing to face the authorities and wanted to cease working in that country the users have a good platform to conduct transactions in multiple fiat currencies with USDT pairing and it is much easier than asking everyone to trade with PancakeSwap.

Shutting down? Nah, it's a long time away. They'll find somewhere, or pay enough fines.

They are facing criminal investigation in multiple countries and it is not that easy to pay the fines and get out if they created a huge mess with the ledger book.

[AmoreJaz]

Even if they really find fault in Binance Thai, it won't be shut down.  Obviously, binance had to allow users to pay Thai Baht like how they do operate in every country and they have p2p for local currency. It's not specified how they do it on facebook but I don't think binance has some page where they could ask for Baht in exchange for cryptocurrency without going thru banks or an app. This is going to be just a small hiccup as Fud after all everything is negotiable these days.

definitely, binance lawyers are busy these days attending those legal matters surrounding their business. but with resources they have, they can get out of this mess and just make proper arrangement or agreement with the countries involved. and now, with Thailand.
i believe before they enter the Thai market, binance already did their homework about the laws or protocol about this kind of business. because that's a must and you can't ignore the local laws before entering its market. let us see how far this will go...

[Darker45]

But Binance is not responding to this, they are continuing their normal activities, Binance just ignoring to answer anything about the SEC.

I don't think so. Our failure to know Binance's every legal step of the way does not mean Binance is not doing anything in response to it, much less ignoring it. Binance wouldn't simply lose the entire Thailand market due to its failure to cooperate with government authorities. I don't think Binance could afford to do that. As per their statement, it is their policy not to respond to regulation issues but they definitely work it out with them.^[1] And Binance has the money to hire the most competent local and international lawyers to iron out issues with regulators.

[1] https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-07-02/binance-crypto-exchange-faces-scrutiny-in-thailand-caymans

[The Sceptical Chymist]

Interesting.  It makes me wonder why all of these countries suddenly have a problem with Binance.  If I were of the tin foil-wearing crowd, I might think there's a conspiracy of some sort going on.  But this is also interesting:

Under the law, managers of the exchange may face penalties of up to two to five years in prison and a fine of 200,000 to 500,000 baht (about $ 6,000 to $ 15,500) and a fine of more than 10,000 baht ($ 310) for each day of operation. Receive their illegal.

Prison time would suck, but this is a company we're talking about, so I doubt anybody would be going to jail.  That range of fines seems quite low, and I'm pretty sure that doesn't worry Binance all that much.  What probably does worry them is that the Thai government thinks they're operating illegally in that country, since Binance is a legitimate exchange that does things by the book.

If I'm not mistaken, Binance offers its services globally and isn't attempting to operate in Thailand specifically.  I wonder if Binance would have a strong legal case if they chose to challenge this.

Even if they really find fault in Binance Thai, it won't be shut down.  Obviously, binance had to allow users to pay Thai Baht like how they do operate in every country and they have p2p for local currency. It's not specified how they do it on facebook but I don't think binance has some page where they could ask for Baht in exchange for cryptocurrency without going thru banks or an app. This is going to be just a small hiccup as Fud after all everything is negotiable these days.

Yeah, that's kind of what I'm thinking as well.  There's no way Binance is going to cease operations altogether, though I'm not sure what they're going to do about this situation.  As you said, everything is negotiable so they might come to an agreement with Thailand's SEC whereby they create a version of Binance that complies with Thai laws (kind of like what they did in the US).

[SFR10]

The watchdog said in a statement on April 5 that it had warned Binance and requested a written response, but that the exchange had not responded to the letter within the specified time.

As per their statement, it is their policy not to respond to regulation issues but they definitely work it out with them.

In other words, they could've avoided this but for some weird reason, they chose the harder route instead ^{[doesn't make sense]}!

It makes me wonder why all of these countries suddenly have a problem with Binance.

Same here, I don't think it's a coincidence...
^{Not sure about the exact time Binance started having any type of activities in there, but perhaps they just wanted to milk [regardless of the mentioned fine amount] one of the most popular cryptocurrency exchanges that have been around in the past few years.}

[buwaytress]

Yeah, I do hope so because I have a lot of stakes in Binance and that's the last thing that I want but I am trying to put all the possibilities out there and I am glad that I am wrong about it.

Well you better be taking all those stakes out of Binance then, my friend. Bad news or not, Binance, like any exchange run by a company, is at much more risk than they'll ever let you find out. Hacks? They've already had one, and had to come clean when someone found out -- imagine what else goes on you'll never know about.

Don't trust the SAFU nonsense, self and sole custody. Do it.

This. It's going to be a bit unlikely for them to close. I mean, they have all the money in the world to pay for the best lawyers. With that said, definitely still not impossible though. Binance have always liked to position themselves in the sort of gray area in terms of regulations, to get as much users as possible.

Banks have a budget line actually called penalties and fines! I've seen it myself, and not surprised at all if exchanges (who might be called financial instruments) had the exact same. Last few major bank fines were several hundred million euros, but if you're making profits to the tune of billions, and only paying a portion of it for fines, your board's giving you a slap on the back.

[stompix]

"likeliness of shutting down is high." YEA. Who will shut down binance? Ronald McDonald? Bitmex CEO was arrested in US for running Bitmex ... Bitmex is still not closed...

They have the most capital in the whole crypto, the best lawyers, the best workers that are responsible regulations:

Cryptocurrency Giant Binance.US Hires Former Top Bank Regulator
Binance Hires Former US Senator Max Baucus

Thats multi billion $ business. No one is going to shut them down.

Yeah, heard that about btc-e also, this is Russia, the US can't move a finger, what happened with them?
Bitmex is still running because the US has allowed them to do you think something stops them from shutting down in a matter of seconds?

As for binance, they can hire anyone they want, it doesn't change a thing they have fled country after country, do I really have to make this list each time?
If they are so tough and powerful why have they packed their bags from Japan? Why haven't they managed to get a license in Malta? Why have they withdrawn their submission for a license in the UK?
Who the hell gives a damn they have a former senator on their payroll, they are still running a Delaware 10 square feet business, and with all their top lawyer the IRS and the DoJ are still investigating them:
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-05-13/binance-probed-by-u-s-as-money-laundering-tax-sleuths-bore-in

In other words, they could've avoided this but for some weird reason, they chose the harder route instead ^{[doesn't make sense]}!

Hong Kong, Japan, Malta, UK, Ontario, that's no weird reason, it's the way they do business, as usual.
Till they will run out of countries to flee from and to.

[mk4]

Banks have a budget line actually called penalties and fines! I've seen it myself, and not surprised at all if exchanges (who might be called financial instruments) had the exact same. Last few major bank fines were several hundred million euros, but if you're making profits to the tune of billions, and only paying a portion of it for fines, your board's giving you a slap on the back.

Yea they do pay fines a lot, but you got it right it's pretty much just like the hand slap banks get when they're caught conducting money laundering schemes lol. And I'm pretty confident that Binance has all the money to pay for dozens and dozens of hand slaps.

[Tytanowy Janusz]

Yea but why they all attack binance? Because binance operates in/from country without licence. Which crypto exchange has licence in every country it operates?

Yeah, heard that about btc-e also, this is Russia, the US can't move a finger, what happened with them?

It was 2017 back then and according to Wikipedia BTC-e was responsible for around 3% of crypto volume. Its 2021 now and binance is responsible for close to half of whole crypto volume. So we are talking about 10-50 mln$ in profit vs 5 bilion$ in profit. Its a huge difference.

Till they will run out of countries to flee from and to.

5-15% tax from 5 bilion$ = 250-750 mln$ income for country that will accept them. Thats enough to not run out of countries to flee to.